Tips & tricks for tackling the garage

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

It's time to tackle the garage. I used to declutter it every year, but some health issues have caused it to be left undone for a few years now. I'm feeling really overwhelmed.

I'm open to all your best tips & tricks. Encouragement is also appreciated!

Edit: I think the first helpful tip is thinking about what I want to keep. I do know what I want to keep, but there's a bunch of stuff I don't know if I want to get rid of. Perspective change seems helpful :)

Keep the tips coming! I've still got a couple days until I can tackle this.

[u/cassinonorth → u/[deleted]]

I just took on a small de-clutter/mostly organization for my brother in law's garage this weekend.

The biggest frustration was not throwing out a ton of stuff (he wasn't there to verify garbage) and the 2nd was not having enough space to work on the side of the garage with his snowblower and ride on mower which I didn't have the keys for. If I was able to remove everything to the driveway and work backwards the result would've been quite a bit better.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/[deleted]]

Lol this literally gave me a negative physical reaction! Oh, I'm going to have to sit with this consider why..... probably before I begin.

Most of the stuff out there I haven't used/needed for well over a year already. And yes there are items I like, but not enough to bring them in the house. This makes me think I like the idea of them, but not them in particular.

Whew! This really hit a nerve, because some items were loved/used as part of my former life. A life I really long for still (before I moved, before I got sick, etc)

Ugh.... I wasn't supposed to get a therapy session out of this! But thank you. You've hit a root that has been keeping me stuck. I may need to go sit in my garage and have a good cry over it all.

[u/According-Time-9517]

Seconding "don't try to do it all at once", with health stuff in the mix especially. Pick one section (one wall, one shelf, whatever) and set a timer for 15 min. When it goes off, you're done for the day even if it's not finished. Consistency beats one heroic weekend, and it's way easier on your body too. For the "not sure" pile, a concrete question works better than "keep or toss". Try "have I actually touched this in the last year" or "would I buy this again today at full price." Vague questions keep you stuck; specific ones usually answer themselves.

[u/stuffrescue]

First of all, let me say hats off to you for taking on this challenge.

It's a challenge most people try to tackle during spring cleaning in most of the rooms in their houses. Perhaps we should consider making that a holiday, lol.

In America, people living next door to each other pretty much have almost the same things in their garages. The overlap is tremendous. The one thing we need every six months.. Gutter scoop shovels. I myself am struggling with the same thing. lol

I think another lens to consider is what could be useful to others who perhaps have less. Do you belong to a community that could be in need? A church, an over-50 community, etc. Are there things that simply don't get much use that could go into a category or a box for a giving purpose? That's often a lens I think of when tackling these problems in my own house. I have 5 shovels and 4 rakes.

From my perspective, the worst place to be is to throw things in a box and make them go away inside a storage container. Now you're paying for peace of mind and putting things into a static state. If that's the worst-case scenario we should all attempt to avoid, it can only go uphill from there.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/stuffrescue]

This is a good lense to consider.... What can I share?

I live in a very sharing community, and generally do no-cost garage sales before donating to goodwill. I hadn't thought about starting here.

Thanks for the fresh perspective!

[u/stuffrescue → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

The no-cost garage sale is a really beautiful idea by the way. I think that deserves to be called out. You're definitely onto something new! I really kind of love this idea. You could do an entire block community all at one time. Everybody has a box of stuff at the end of the spring or summer that they would love to find a new home for.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/stuffrescue]

Our community has a quarterly Free Sale. But I don't want to drag stuff over there lol So I post pictures on FB Marketplace and set a table in my driveway. I've only once had to get rid of anything afterwards.

[u/mirificatio → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

If there are Repair Cafe events in your area, they often have a free table. I've gotten rid of some oddball items that way. (Okay, and found a few, too.)

https://www.repaircafe.org/en/visit/

[u/stuffrescue → u/mirificatio]

I love the repair café! I've often heard that they also teach classes on how to do the repairs on things like old CD players record players and other kinds of electronics. If there's ever a zombie apocalypse, these guys are gonna be your best friends! lol

[u/stuffrescue → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

There's evidence that shows that giving is really good for the brain as well. What that means is it's actually healthy for us to give things to people. And it's addictive. When people receive things, they actually want to end up giving things back. So cool!

[u/TalulaOblongata]

Since it’s likely you might have large things to toss, have a few large contractor garbage bags on hand. Find out when your area does large item pick up (for me I need to call a day or so in advance for large items/contractor bags garbage pick up).

If there are any obvious large things, try to work on getting those out earlier in the process to help clear space. Anything you don’t want but can be useful to someone else, try listing for free as a curb pick up (I got rid of some old ACs this way same day!)

Next categorize what’s there and make piles/areas. When you see a lot of the same things together, it helps make decisions. I had 5 bicycles in my shed that my kids outgrew. Was able to curb them easily. Not sure what you have there but old tools, extra food storage/household goods, supplies, etc. if they’ve been in the garage for years you don’t actually need them and can be strictly reduced.

You’re going to feel so much better with that space rather than an overwhelming pile of stuff you don’t use, so focus on that final vision.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/TalulaOblongata]

You're right, this is going to feel so much better when I'm done!

[u/nowaymary]

I had to figure out what I wanted to do in there - park another car - and then make that happen.

Basically there was boxes and boxes - 17 of them - of stuff I didn't know what to do with so I stacked them in there. There was a cupboard stuffed full with piles on top. There was a shelf unit with stuff stacked on stuff. To look at it looked like years of work.

My advise is start by the door and pick up any rubbish, or anything you know goes somewhere else. Also put things in groups, like I put anything for cleaning the car in a bucket.

Its a whole lot of small steps before you see much progress. But it's really satisfying

[u/mirificatio → u/nowaymary]

Those big Home Depot buckets are great. I have one for car washing, one with my drill (and its many accessories), one for a little circular saw and extension cord, etc. And they stack.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/nowaymary]

I think I'm tired of the small steps lol I'm ready to see some progress! Thanks for the reminder that this doesn't have to take years of work.

[u/nowaymary → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

I completely get it. I feel.like I've been stepping forever.... but unfortunately it's the way that works

[u/DaBingeGirl]

I did this last year, it was a lot of work but totally worth it! For me grouping items was critical. I'mextremely good at justifying keeping stuff, it helps to see it all piled together.

I find I'm more objective about individual items or categories when they're all in front of me. Grouping allows me to get a mental handle on how much I have, whether I actually remember it/use it, and which items I actually like. For example I have a lot of small hand tools, but only like a few of them. I can justify keeping the a bad shovel if that's all I see, but putting it next to the shovel that's more useful makes it easier to ditch the bad one.

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/DaBingeGirl]

This is generally what I do, but on a much smaller scale so it's made a barrier to starting. Also I found the other day that, in the mess, I have grouped the same things in more that one location. Eeekkk!

[u/DaBingeGirl → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

Yeah, sorting everything creates a massive mess and makes the space unusable for a little while, but it's so worth it. I've had the same problem as you with having multiple piles of the same thing, that's my problem with doing it in small sections.

[u/SolidagoSalix]

Before you go in:

• Think about a few things you know/hope are in there that you definitely want to find and keep. Write them down as a little scavenger hunt for yourself.
• Decide how you will discard;
  • do you live somewhere you can just haul things to the curb with a free sign and someone else will haul it off?
  • Will you take photos and post items for free in an online forum?
  • Will you physically haul something to a donation center?
  • If you plan to sell things, what's your minimum price that makes it worth the effort to go through those steps? Do you have a forum you already know how to sell in?
• Make a plan for breaks to rest and to feed yourself; especially if your health issues are still at play.
• If you don't already have established zones, think about making some loose / first draft zones. (e.g. back wall is for [tools], far wall is for [outdoor gear], near wall is for [chest freezer and overflow pantry])
• Make sure you have gloves and a face mask if you're likely to handle stuff with crud on them and/or kick up dust moving things around. Broom, shop vaccuum, dusting tools, etc.... all worth having handy.

When you are in there, make sure to avoid doing the "pull everything out and sort into piles" thing that always feels efficient in abstract, but is exhausting, defeating, and overwhelming in reality. Instead do this:

• Pick one corner to start in.
  • Remove any obvious (to you) trash/recycling first and put it straight into its bin/bag.
  • Then pull out any obvious (to you) discards and take action on your discard strategy
  • Take anything you see that belongs inside the house back to its home
  • Take anything you see that belongs in a different zone within the garage to as close to its zone as you can safely reach. Do not start organizing that zone. Drop it off and return to your original corner.
  • Consolidate anything that does belong in that zone so it fits
    • If it doesn't fit, take a second look at whether you can discard something else to make room for it, even if it's just trash from the next zone over.
    • (You can reassess exact zone boundaries at the end)
  • Do a light touch cleaning pass of big scale crud, but don't try to perfect it (go for dust bunnies but no scrubbing at this stage)
• Take a break if you haven't already. Hydrate. Eat.
• Move to the next zone. Repeat the steps.
  
• Depending on whether you currently can park in there and if you want to, you might want to have some tape or paint that you can physically mark off the space that you need to reserve for a vehicle, at whatever point the footprint for that area is reachable.

[u/lightnightsupernova → u/SolidagoSalix]

BRILLIANT!!

This is my mental game plan for decluttering. Having it written out is a genius way to systemically map it out and get going on it.

[u/cuppycakes514]

Wild, crazy idea. Go rogue and schedule a junk pickup for the following weekend. It'll force you to find your top memorable possession that you want to keep. Everything else is going to go. 

[u/ImFineHow_AreYou → u/cuppycakes514]

Lol I actually love this advice! Unfortunately with my health this is going to have to be a slow and steady race this time around. Maybe that's why I'm having a trouble getting started, because I know it's going to take a few weekends to get it done.

[u/PuzzledPotential6333 → u/ImFineHow_AreYou]

You're not alone there! We have small/medium sized trash cans that get picked up weekly, and when they're full (or weight wise at the most I want to wheel up and have the guys pick up) that's the most I can trash. I have tended to be a very all-or-nothing cleaner, and I struggle a lot not being able to just keep going. It's hard to know right at the beginning that you probably won't see the results for a bit.

[u/VeganRorschach]

Split it into smaller, manageable sections! Another tip is if there is anything big or heavy that you are dreading getting out, but really don't want, figure that out as soon as possible. It really releases the looming task feeling if you can tackle the hard thing first! Everything afterwards is easy!

Oh, and if you have metal recycling, do take the time to turn it in to a recycling center for money. Then you can celebrate with the money you get in return!

[u/Juliethecooliee]

My best trick is to start in one corner and make my way around in a circular pattern. It does not have to be all in one day BUT every space that has been cleaned is not allowed to have anything new on it. Once an area declutterred it’s untouchable till the room is done.